There is a theme in recent years of Barcelona games falling below expectations, and the FIFA Club World Cup final against Brazils Santos is no exception. It was billed as Messi v. Neymar, the best in the world against the next big thing, but as always people tend to forget that Messi is merely 24 years old, hardly on the downside to his career. It was typical Barcelona, 70% possession and a 4-0 rout of the South American Champions, it was 3-0 after the first half, and while Santos came out a much better team in the second half, it was never going to be enough.
For Santos, Neymar got all the press attention coming into the match up, but it was the midfielder Ganso who was the shining star on the team. He doesn't have the box to box pace to be a midfielder in Europe, but his passing, especially long range and extended through balls was exceptional.
Messi, with two goals in the final joined Pedro (2009) as the only two players to score goals in 6 club competitions in the same season (Spanish Super Cup, Copa Del Rey, La Liga, UEFA Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, European Super Cup). He was joined on the score sheet by Xavi and Cesc Fabregas, with 11 goals in 20 appearances has in half a season nearly surpassed all but his most prolific goal scoring season at Arsenal.
Next up for Barcelona is a return to the Copa Del Rey, with a match against L'Hospitaliet next week. While Pep strives to take every match in every game seriously, this is a good opportunity to trot out some of the youngsters who made such an impact in the last match day in the CL group stage. However, having seen what happened to Real Madrid two years ago, when they were beat handily by a third division side, I expect Pep to at least put a few of the regular starters out to create a rhythm and have the necessary experience on the field in the case of a early goal by the opposition.
Copa starting IX: Pinto, Maxwell, Fontas, Pique, Alves, Mascherano, Thiago, Sergi Roberto, Pedro, Cuenca, Deulofeu
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